


Roommates

by Avery72



Category: British Actor RPF, Richard Armitage - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9465326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avery72/pseuds/Avery72
Summary: Richard gets a temporary roommate as a favor for a friend.





	

Richard regarded the woman currently sleeping in a haphazard mess on his couch. He was surprised to see her there after her absence for two whole days. She was still wearing her work clothes, her feet still in their shoes hanging off the end of the couch.

He chuckled to himself as he knelt to remove her shoes for her. A friend asked him to take her in as a favor. She was highly specialized in her work; some CEO somewhere decided to suddenly uproot her and put her in New York. She needed a place to live for a few months before she found her own apartment. Richard’s friend had explained that she was very sweet and wouldn’t be around too much because of the crazy hours she worked.

She mumbled something in her sleep as Richard draped a blanket over her. “Shh,” he said gently. “Go back to sleep.” He couldn’t help himself as he reached out and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. “Go back to sleep.”

\---

“Sorry,” she apologized the next morning over a cup of black coffee. “I’ll try to not make a habit of it.”

“It is fine,” Richard replied. “I was told you work very hard; exhaustion always has ways to catch up to you.”

“Mhmm.”

Richard waited for her to continue, for her to make small talk, but she silently continued to drink her coffee. At first he thought she was quiet because she was embarrassed about last night. But after a few days, he quickly realized that she simply wasn’t a morning person. It was hard to get any conversation out of her before she was adequately caffeinated.

\---

It was completely by accident the first time they slept together. A slightly inebriated Richard had come home very late one night after a press conference and fell asleep on the couch. She just got off work, and despite her best intentions to not make it a habit, she liked sleeping on the couch after long days.

Toeing off her shoes, she grumbled at Richard to budge up because he was in her spot. Richard responded with his own grumbling and simply pulled her into his arms. Too tired to fight him, and enjoying the extra body warmth, she nestled against his shoulder and fell asleep.

They both woke up the next morning feeling like they just had the best sleep of their lives. There was something very comforting about falling asleep next to someone.

“We shouldn’t make a habit of this,” she said with her lip pressed to the edge of her coffee mug.

Richard’s lips curled up into a smile and then he chuckled, knowing what happened last time she said those words. “No, we probably shouldn’t.”

\---

They quickly settled into a peaceful co-existence. They easily recognized each other’s quirks and accommodated for them. They never had to discuss who would do the dishes, buy groceries, or take out the trash. They didn’t have problems with one of them being too loud or too messy.

They kept to themselves for the most part. Sometimes they ate dinner together or watched TV together or went out for drinks together. And every once in a while, when they were both exhausted, they curled up on the couch together and slept.

\---

Richard refused to dignify the rumors about him dating his roommate with a response.

But he finally snapped once they started making ridiculous claims about her. “FUCK OFF!” Richard boomed. “She is one of the kindest, most genuine, most generous, hardest working people I’ve ever met. Your dismal selves could only dream of being a fraction of the woman that she is. You have NO right to say those disgusting things about her.”

“Who is she?” someone asked.

“A friend of a friend. She recently moved to New York and needed a place to stay for a few months. That’s all there is to it.”

\---

“Thank you for letting me stay with you,” she said during dinner. It was their last night together; she would finish moving out in the morning. “I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” Richard smiled warmly at her. He poked at his food for a few moments, before mustering up the courage to say, “I’m going to miss you.”

She chuckled. “After a few weeks, when you’re somewhere across the globe filming your next blockbuster, you’ll forget that we’ve ever met.”

“It’s hard to forget a woman like you.”

“Thanks.”

A comfortable silence fell over them as they finished their dinner. It was one of the things that Richard really liked about her. She could be social and charm anyone, but they were happy to silently orbit around each other. She understood his introversion.

“I’d like to see you again,” Richard said when she made to go upstairs and to go to bed.

“Of course.” She grinned at him. “You have my number.”

\---

After four and a half months of having another person share his space, his house felt very empty. Richard noticed that she brought little touches of life to the house, from shoes or keys thrown around to the way she smelled.

He rolled onto his other side to grab his cell phone from his nightstand. He stared at the bright screen in the darkness, trying to think of something witty to say to her. He finally settled on texting, “Dinner?” Richard figured she’d appreciate the direct approach.

Richard started to panic when 24 hours passed and he still hadn’t received a response. He worried that she might be laughing at him. He worried that maybe she didn’t like him as much as he thought she did; maybe she was quiet around him not because that was her nature, but because she simply tolerated him. He pounced on his phone when buzzed, alerting him to a next text message.

“I’m currently out-of-town,” it read. “Work trip for three weeks. When I come back?” That explained a lot, especially why the number of texts from her steeply decreased and why it took her longer to respond.

“Yeah,” Richard replied. “Let me know when you get back.”

\---

They walked with their elbows linked. She didn’t live very far from the restaurant and it was too beautiful a night to not walk. They laughed and bumped into each other as they walked. As they walked, Richard recognized the warmth in his heart for what it was: love.

He mulled over that thought for a few minutes. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he started feeling this way; he assumed it must have been early in their co-habitation since he had kind of always felt this way about her.

“This is me,” she said, stopping outside a fairly non-descript apartment complex. “Thank you for dinner. I had a lot of fun. It was really good to see you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

She fished in her purse for her keys. “Do you want to come up?” she asked when she was at the top of the stoop and her key was inserted into the lock. “I have a wonderful, new couch.”

Richard shook his head. “I have an early morning tomorrow. Maybe next time? If there is a next time?”

She came down a few stairs so that she was the same height as Richard. She leaned forward and kissed him. “I’m off on Thursday.”

Richard reached up to cup her face and kiss her back. “Thursday it is.” He gave her another kiss, just for good measure. “Also, I doubt it can beat my couch.”

\---

“What’s this?” she asked, when Richard placed a key in her open palm.

“Your lease is almost up.”

“Have you been snooping through my mail?”

Richard shook his head. “I remember when you moved out. You shouldn’t have moved out.” He reached out and closed her hand around the key.

She looked down at her fist and Richard’s strong hand on hers. She looked back up at Richard. She slightly taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes. Richard bent his neck down and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered.

She gave him a big grin and started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, a little hurt that she was laughing at him when he was at his most vulnerable.

“Nothing,” she replied with a kiss. “I love you, too.”


End file.
